A humanoid robot named “Sophia” was granted Saudi Arabian Citizenship at the tech summit Future Investment Initiative on 25th October 2017 – the first time a robot has received citizenship the BBC reported
Created by Hanson Robotics (HR) “Sophia” is pale-skinned with features that can display a range of emotions. The robot appears to be able to listen and talk. You can tell it isn’t human from the latency in it’s movement and responses. However, the robot isn’t fully autonomous – while it can do certain things like move and monitor system inputs, it would be connected to AI along with other robots like it. So when the robot is given citizenship, it would include it’s connected robotic network and shared experiential information from the AI system.
But the big thing about this story is the idea of “robot citizenship” and the notion that a silicon based machine is now a citizen. This wasn’t just a PR stunt for investors, but also set a precedent, especially unusual for a country like Saudi Arabia. Here’s why this is dangerous and why we need to be aware of what happens next.
- A “citizenship” provides alleged “rights” to citizens. These include the means to get a driving license, the right to vote, ID-entity documents, passports, bank accounts, company directorships etc. A robot citizen would have the same “rights” as a living flesh & blood human being. This puts citizen robots in direct competition with human beings.
- Unlike humans, robots don’t need to sleep and can work a 24hour shift. That would take 3 humans on 8 hour shifts to match. They don’t need beds, hotels, food, bathroom breaks and they don’t die, make a mess or complain 😉
- Robots don’t have issues with company culture although citizen robots with AI can probably develop their own culture (AIs have been shown to create their own language for communicating with each other).
- Most work which happens in business – clerical, administrative, production, supply chain management are already run by software and the next step is autonomous AI software and robotics that remove the need for human intervention. Some estimates look at 80% of jobs disappearing in the next 10 years but it’s probably higher. What will humans do? Most of us enjoy working, having a task to perform well, and being on a mission with an exciting outcome.
- The notion of a AI-robotic based bureaucratic system working 24/7/365 is fearsome.
- Very soon, with the ability to compete with human citizens on the “open market” capitalist style, we’ll see human citizens delegated to second class citizens, untouchables under their robotic overlords and their robotic president sucking life from humanity.
- The AI-robot citizen is a perfect witness as it can record events using environmental sensors. Connected to a network of robots, it can provide a record of events that outperforms the vagaries of human memory and recall. This means the robot citizen will be able to act as a witness and even the judge in court – but probably never be the accused.
It is important to note that the Robotic-AI is not stand-alone. In effect, it is much like a dumb terminal with limited capacity to change facial expression, move its arms etc. The robot is connected to larger AI systems via WiFi that provide the real computing power to conduct (limited) conversations, facial recognition and task related parameters and rules.
We already live in a world where most financial journalism is performed by bots, aircraft and now trucks and cars are self driving so any non-robot reading this is at risk. But there’s some thing that’ll take the robots a very long time to do if they’ll ever get it:
The ability to create and tell a unique story in a way that will genuinely evoke emotional responses in a mixed robot-human audience. (Will machines catch the joke, respond with wit, shed a tear?)
Ethical and Philosophical Considerations
- Personhood and Rights: What constitutes personhood? Should robots with advanced AI be considered moral agents with inherent rights? Does granting them citizenship imply they have the same moral standing as humans?
- Bias and Discrimination: If AI systems are used in judicial processes or law enforcement, how can we ensure fairness and prevent discrimination against certain groups?
- Accountability: If a robot commits a crime or causes harm, who is responsible? How do we establish liability in a system where AI decision-making can be both complex and opaque?
Socioeconomic Impacts
- New Economic Models: What might emerge in a world where human labor is not needed. Could we see a shift towards a more collaborative or sharing-based economy?
- Human-Robot Collaboration: Can we leverage the strengths of both humans and AI to create new opportunities and improve productivity?
The Future of Human Identity
- Transhumanism: What could emerge when a convergence of humans and AI happens? How might this blur the lines between human and machines and, as a result, impacting our understanding of our identity?
- Existential Risk: What happens if/when an AI singularity or uncontrolled superintelligence emergence.
And we end with the “Sophia” Precedent: What happens with other countries grant citizenship to robots?
Sophia story as reported in LiveScience.com
Research: NEOM Megapolis
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